“Sometimes people don’t realize what it is they see,” Booher said. “If they’re not actively looking for something, they may have seen something and it may not have clicked. … We want to jog their memory.”
At 1:33 p.m. Friday, May 6, a light-skinned black male believed to be 19 or 20 years old walked out of the tree line and onto the school playground, pushed a young girl off a swing set, stabbed her, and fled back to the tree line in the direction of Kammer and Almond avenues. Booher said he was about 5-foot-8 and medium build, wearing a beige hoodie with an orange T-shirt and blue shorts.
The 7-year-old girl, a second-grader at World of Wonder, was released from the hospital three days later.
Booher said police received cooperation from people in the neighborhood initially and followed those leads.
“We vetted that information, interviewed people in the neighborhood and people who were potential suspects, and right now we’re at the point where we’re not getting anything new coming in,” Booher said.
Police said those potential suspects were cleared, no new tips came in after surveillance camera video was released, and police “need more pieces” with no clear trail to follow.
Since no one reported seeing the man running in the blocks around the school, Booher asked people to call police if they saw someone parking a car nearby, dropping a man off or picking him up, or even someone standing around.
Booher said police have no reason to put stock in early public theories such as a gang initiation or retaliation because of a family dispute.
Crimestoppers put up a $1,000 reward for information leading to the attacker’s arrest, and Dayton Public Schools has $8,210 in a reward fund for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
People with information can call Crimestoppers at 222-STOP or call Dayton Police at 333-COPS.
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